Week 17 Thursday Fantasy Football Start/Sit Decisions: Should You Start Joe Flacco, Breece Hall and David Njoku?

Week 17 of the NFL season - also known as championship week for most fantasy football leagues, kicks off with an AFC matchup between the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns.

There aren’t too many startable players in the contest, but we’ll dive into the FantasySP start/sit tool and answer any big questions fantasy owners might have.

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Quarterback Debate

Cleveland’s Joe Flacco is part of several trending decisions at the quarterback position.

Flacco has been a fantasy stud since taking over as the team’s starter. In four games, He’s thrown 10 touchdowns to seven interceptions. He’s hit at least 250 passing yards in each game, including two straight games over 350 yards.

The matchup with the Jets is as difficult a matchup a fantasy quarterback can face right now. New York’s defense only allows opposing QBs to score 12 fantasy points per game.

That tough matchup has Flacco as the 22nd-ranked quarterback in the weekly projections.

Flacco is part of trending decisions with Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Baker Mayfield, Green Bay Packers’ Jordan Love and Houston Texans’ C.J. Stroud.

Stroud is the top-ranked quarterback in the projections, coming in 12th. Mayfield is 13th and Love is 18th. All three quarterbacks have similar matchups ahead, with the defenses they are facing allowing 14 or 15 fantasy points per game.

This would probably be a much easier decision if Stroud had played the last few weeks. As long as no reports surface that the Texans are going to play things safe with Stroud, I’d still take him first among this group of quarterbacks in his matchup against the Tennessee Titans. I’d take Love next in his matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. 

Mayfield and Flacco are pretty close in my book. Both matchups are difficult, so I’d want to start the guy with the highest floor. Flacco has been pretty turnover prone in his four games, and I could see Thursday’s game getting lopsided (leading to lots of rushing attempts for Cleveland), so I’d take Mayfield slightly ahead of Flacco.

Running Back Debate

New York’s Breece Hall is part of a few trending decisions at the running back spot.

Hall has been one of the few bright spots on the Jets’ offense this season, and is coming off his best game of the season. His usage really depends on how close a game it is - he got 32 touches last week after just seven the week before. He’s a risky play in this offense, but his upside is hard to pass on.

Hall went for 191 total yards and two scores in week 16 after having just 18 total yards in week 15. In week 14, Hall tallied 126 yards in a score, which was after games of 45 and 49 total yards the previous two weeks.

The back’s matchup with the Browns is a tough one, as the defense allows opposing RBs to score just 18 points per week. Hall is the workhorse, so he wouldn’t lose many of those points to another New York running back.

Hall is part of trending decisions with Miami Dolphins’ Raheem Mostert, Seattle Seahawks’ Kenneth Walker and Minnesota’s Ty Chandler.

Of the four backs in this discussion, Mostert is the highest-ranked guy at No. 5, while Chandler is the lowest at No. 19. Chandler and Walker both have pretty favorable matchups, while the matchups for Hall and Mostert are pretty even.

At this point of the season, I’m contemplating back’s matchups and then considering what kind of workload they should be getting. I like Walker’s outlook more than Chandler because he’s been the bell-cow back the past couple weeks, while Chandler could lose touches to Alexander Mattison. Give me Walker first in this group, with Chandler in second.

I’d take Hall third over Mostert, simply because Hall won’t have to split many touches - while Mostert will with De’Von Achane. Both of their matchups scare me a good deal, but I think Hall can do enough in the passing game to warrant a starting spot if you need him to. I’m trying to stay away from Mostert in standard leagues.

Tight End Debate

Cleveland’s David Njoku is another pretty popular name in the start/sit tool.

Since Flacco took over, Njoku has at least six targets in every game, including 23 over the past two weeks. He’s scored four touchdowns over the past three weeks, and has 239 receiving yards over that span.

His matchup with the Jets is a pretty average one. New York’s defense allows opposing receivers to average 4.6 receptions and just 42.9 yards, but TEs have scored eight times.

Njoku is part of trending decisions with Arizona Cardinals’ Trey McBride and Jacksonville Jaguars’ Evan Engram.

Njoku is the highest-ranked TE of the three at No. 4 overall. McBride is sixth, while Engram is seventh.

Njoku and McBride have similar matchups, while Engram has a tougher one on paper.

I’d follow the rankings on the projections page here, taking Njoku first, McBride second and Engram third. I like Njoku to be heavily involved again this week, especially because a couple WRs on the team are banged up. I’d typically take Engram over McBride, but the matchups mixed with the uncertainty of quarterback Trevor Lawrence makes me want to stay away from Engram. 

Best of luck in week 17!